Self-driving buses could be trialled in Lincolnshire next year, said Lincoln mayor Dame Andrea Jenkyns.

Speaking at the Lincolnshire Exhibition, Jenkyns confirmed that funding had been earmarked.

Driverless buses could be used in rural areas to help make public transport “a way of life, not a last resort”, she told the National Democracy Reporting Service.

Lincolnshire trials

“We have got the funding, and the next stage is to test and trial. Eventually, I’d like to see them across the county,” she said.

While no routes or providers have been named, Ohmio, a subsidiary of New Zealand-based transportation tech group HMI Technologies, demonstrated a driverless bus operating on a route around the exhibition at the Lincolnshire Showground.

The units could be used to link other public transit systems together, such as operating between a bus station and a rail station, Ohmio robotics engineer Hariharasudhan Akhil said at the event.

Two ideal routes reportedly mentioned during the event were connecting downhill and uphill areas of Lincoln, and connecting Gainsborough’s Lea Road train station to the town centre.

Self-driving rules

Ohmio is trialling self-driving buses in Milton Keynes, and an eight-seater Ohmio Lift shuttle carried passengers from Margate railway station to the Turner Contemporary on the day of the fourth annual Self Driving Industry Awards earlier this month.

The company said a broader rollout is planned after the government announces regulations for self-driving vehicles, which could occur late this year or early 2027.

Self-driving services have been gradually arriving in Europe, with at least two commercial robotaxi offerings arriving this year, in Zagreb and London.